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Learning Plug-In for IBM Lotus

Notes
12/3/2008 11:08:15 AM Sharyn Richard

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The Learning Plug-In for IBM® Lotus Notes® is a sidebar plug-in that is used to view and filter learning
materials inside your IBM Lotus Notes client, version 8 or higher. This article contains the following
topics:

About the Learning Plug-In


See how the Learning Plug-In works
Installing the Learning Plug-in

About the Learning Plug-in


The Learning Plug-in for IBM Lotus Notes gives you access the following types of Lotus Notes user
training materials:

• Task-based demonstrations: These are task-based product simulations that show the user how to

complete one task or a small series of related tasks.


• Videos: Videos are similar to task-based demonstrations, but are larger in scope. They teach a skill

that typically covers multiple tasks. These demonstrations include movie affects such as panning,

zooming, and audio. Videos can also provide an overview of product concepts, such as Lotus Domino

database security concepts. They include animations that illustrate concepts that help end users,

administrators, and application developers to better understand how a product works.


• Tutorials: A tutorial provides step-by-step instructions on how to perform common tasks when first

getting started using a product. Tutorials typically include sample files to download.
• Product Tour: A product tour is a collection of animations or product simulations that introduces the

product and its features. They are positioned as introductory upon which other learning and

knowledge is built.
• Web Seminars: A web seminar is a presentation-based learning experience that is developed with

speaker notes and audio track. This seminar can be delivered as self-paced (Web or SCORM) or by

an instructor either in a live or virtual classroom or Web conference.


• Self-Paced E-Learning: Self-paced e-learning courses are comparable to material covered in an

instructor-led classroom-based course, but can be taken online at your own pace. Self-paced e-

learning courses can include conceptual information, task "how to" information, and sample files for

completing exercises on your own.


• Reference Cards: Reference cards are a quick reference for users to quickly find how to perform the

most common tasks in a product. They are printable in a two-page format.


After installing the plug-in, your Notes client sidebar will look like this screen image:

See how it works


You may use the menus in the title bar of the plug-in to control the display of the plug-in panel, with
functions such as Hide Panel , Minimize , Maximize , and Restore, just like any sidebar panel.

You can select a product curriculum by using the Course drop-down. In the screen image, you can see
that the IBM Learning Plug-in for IBM Lotus Notes curriculum has been selected. You can select
keywords from the Topic Filter drop-down to filter the resources that are displayed in the Topic area.

The Topic area is arranged in a hierarchy which you can expand to see the individual learning
resources for each topic. Each topic contains multiple resources. Double-click on a resource to see it
displayed. The resource displays in a separate window.

You can provide feedback about the plug-in by right-clicking on any topic or resource. Select Feedback
from the context menu to display a form that you can use to provide the plug-in team with your feedback
.

Click this button to watch a video that shows how the Learning Plug-In works.

Back to top
Installing the Learning Plug-in
Use the following instructions to install the Learning Plug-in for IBM Lotus Notes into the Lotus Notes 8
or higher sidebar.
1. If your Lotus Notes client is running, exit the program by selecting File > Exit.

2. Using a text editor such as Notepad, add the following line to file
\framework\rcp\plugin_customization.ini

com.ibm.notes.branding/enable.update.ui=true

Note: If you do not know your Notes home folder, you can find the file by selecting Start > Search and
searching for plugin_customization.ini. When you see the search results, find the file that ends in
\framework\rcp\plugin_customization.ini, and open it. Add the line above to the end of this file.

If you are using Lotus Notes for the Mac, right-click the Notes application, and choose Show package
contents. The plugin_customization.ini file is located in
Contents/MacOS/rcp/plugin_customization.ini folder. Note that all learning deliverables may not
work on the MAC OS. This issue is planned to be addressed in a future release of the plug-in.

Note: This configuration file change enables the Install function of the Applications menu, which is
disabled by default.

3. Save the file.

4. Start the Lotus Notes client.

5. Select File > Application > Install

Result: The Feature Updates dialog box is displayed.

Note: If File > Application > Install still does not appear, make sure Provisioning is enabled in your policy
settings. This information will be listed on your desktop policy, on the Basics tab.

6. In the Feature Updates dialog box, select the radio button labeled Search for new features to
install, then click Next.

Result: The Application Locations dialog box is displayed.

7. In the Application Locations dialog box, click Add Remote Location.

Result: The New Update Site dialog box is displayed.

8. Enter the following values in the New Update Site dialog box and then click OK.

Name: My Lotus Learning


URL: http://www-10.lotus.com/ldd/plugins.nsf/site.xml

Result: The Learning Plug-In update site is listed and automatically selected in the location list of the
Application Locations dialog box.
9. In the Application Locations dialog box, click Finish.

Result: The Search Results dialog box is displayed.

10. In the Search Results dialog box, expand the features tree (click on the plus sign) first for entry My
Lotus Learning and then for entry Learning. Click in the check box in front of the IBM Learning Plug-
In for IBM Lotus Notes 1.0.6 entry, as shown below:

11. Click Next.

Result: The Feature License dialog box is displayed.

12. In the Feature License dialog box, select the radio button labeled I accept the terms in the license
agreement and click Next.

Result: The Installation dialog box is displayed, listing the features to install.

13. In the Installation dialog box, click Finish.

Result: A dialog box asking you whether you want to install Notes_8_Lotus_Learning_Content_Feature
is displayed.

14. Select the radio button labeled Install this plug-in and then click OK.

Result: A progress bar is displayed followed by a dialog box asking if you want to install the
Notes_8_Content_Feature.

15. Click Restart Now in the Restart dialog box to restart now, or Wait 5 Minutes if you do not want to
restart now.
Result: The Notes client is restarted and the Learning Plug-in is displayed at the top of the right-hand
sidebar.

The Learning Plug-in is ready to use.

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